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It had been too long since I had last had shrimp and I was craving some. I remembered seeing a recipe for caramel shrimp a while ago when I was looking for recipes for the
kabocha simmered in caramel sauce
that sounded good. Apparently simmering or braising in nuoc mau (Vietnamese caramel sauce) is fairly common in Vietnamese cuisine. Generally if you want to add some sweetness to a recipe you just add some sugar but why not take the opportunity to add some flavour at the same time by using caramel instead of sugar?

I am getting better at making caramel the more I make it and this time it came together easily and without any problems. The caramel shrimp was nice and quick and easy to make and turned out great! I really enjoyed the sweetness and saltiness of the sauce on the succulent shrimp and there was just the right amount of heat. The caramel flavour in the sauce worked really well! I served the caramel shrimp on coconut jasmine rice and the rice soaked up all of the extra sauce and became super tasty. I will definitely be making this again though I think that next time I will add some lime juice for a touch of tartness.

Vietnamese Caramel Shrimp (Tom Rim)

ingredients

2 tablespoons sugar

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup water

1 tablespoon oil

1 shallot (chopped)

2 cloves garlic (chopped)

1 teaspoon ginger (grated)

1 small chili (chopped)

1 pound shrimp (peeled and deviened)

2 tablespoons fish sauce

pepper to taste

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1 tablespoon cilantro (chopped)

directions

Heat the sugar and water in a large pan on medium-high heat until it caramelized and turns a dark brown.

Carefully add the water and heat until the caramel dissolves. (Caution: The caramel sauce will foam up quite a bit so you need to be careful as you add the water.)

Remove from heat and set aside.

Heat the oil in a pan.

Add the shallot, garlic, ginger and chili and saute for 3-5 minutes.

Add the shrimp, 2 tablespoons of the caramel sauce, fish sauce and pepper and simmer until the shrimp is pink all over, about 2-4 minutes.

Oh, man! Does it get any better? Except for my youngest we LOVE Asian flavors and shrimp!!!!! You know what else is great? Because it has "sauce" my daughter will eat the rice w/it and not complain!!! Thanks for sharing the recipe. This is one of several shrimp dishes that the kids will be gobbling up. Shrimp seems to be popular right around the blogosphere. Yay!~ingrid

Beautiful picture and the recipe sounds so good. Kevin, what is fish sauce? I have a recipe I'm wanting to try with red curry/shrimp and it calls for a couple tablespoons of fish sauce. It sounds just gross to me... is it a fishy taste or smell? I just can't figure out what the ingredients might be!

Karen: Fish sauce is a condiment commonly found in Thai and Vietnamese cuisine that is made from fermented fish. It does not sound good but it does not have a fishy smell or taste and it is quite nice. It is salty and it seems to be used in a way that is similar to soy sauce. Here is the wikipedia link: fish sauce

Hi Kevin,I'm attempting a post for National Sauce Month which is celebrated in March and I was hoping you wouldn't mind if I "borrow" your link for Vietnamese Caramel Shrimp, which sounds especially delightful at this very moment. It should be up by tomorrow (24th) so if there is a problem, please let me know.

P.S. I should confess, I've been a "lurker" for a while now. I actually found this recipe because you have been in my search engine for some time now.

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About Me

I came to realize that my meals were boring and that I had been eating the same few dishes over and over again for years. It was time for a change! I now spend my free time searching for, creating and trying tasty new recipes in my closet sized kitchen.